Netflix: We're Working On HTML5 Standard to Bring Streaming Video to All Devices
Remember a couple months back, when we were all waiting breathlessly for Netflix to release an app for the iOS, so we could finally watch streaming movies on the go? Well, iPhone and iPad users finally got their wish …
Context & Ripple Effects
The move caps a year of deliberate groundwork: Netflix all but promised an iPhone app in April (a blog post that telegraphed the release), shipped it in August (bringing streaming to iPhone and iPod Touch), and by October Apple was throwing its weight behind HTML5 video (though the format's victory remained incomplete). Netflix executives John Ciancutti and Kevin McEntee have spent December publicly explaining the company's HTML5 rationale and its reliance on open-source streaming infrastructure.
The timing is no accident: Netflix launched its $7.99 streaming-only plan in November, refreshed the PS3 experience, and signed FilmDistrict for first-run films — a catalog-and-devices expansion that makes writing a separate app for every platform unsustainable.
First-order effects
- Netflix can extend its streaming service to any browser-capable device without building and maintaining a native app per platform, directly serving the new streaming-only subscriber base it just acquired at $7.99/month.
- Device makers without dedicated Netflix apps gain a credible path to offering the service, since the delivery mechanism becomes the web itself rather than a per-device port.
Second-order effects
- Plugin-based delivery — notably Microsoft Silverlight, which currently powers Netflix's browser playback — faces pressure as the largest US streaming customer works toward replacing it, forcing Adobe- and Microsoft-aligned tooling to compete with open standards.
- Rival streaming services are pushed toward the same standards track: if Netflix defines how premium video works over HTML5, including its rights-management approach, competitors either adopt that model or bear the cost of divergent implementations.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, streaming video consolidates around open web standards with vendor-defined extensions for content protection — the unresolved gap flagged in October's coverage of HTML5's incomplete win — shifting power from plugin owners to whichever players set the extension specs.
- A single write-once delivery layer lowers the barrier for every content owner to reach every screen, accelerating the shift of film and TV distribution away from device-specific licensing deals toward catalog-wide streaming subscriptions.
The trend: Premium streaming video is migrating from proprietary plugins and per-platform native apps toward HTML5, with Netflix's subscriber scale making it the standard-setter rather than a follower.